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The Ayn Rand Institute: The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism, commonly known as the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI), is a
501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
nonprofit think tank in Santa Ana, California, that promotes
Objectivism Objectivism is a philosophical system developed by Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand. She described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement ...
, the philosophy developed by
Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...
. The organization was established in 1985, three years after Rand's death, by Ed Snider and Leonard Peikoff, Rand's legal heir. ARI has several educational and outreach programs, which include providing intellectuals for public appearances, supporting Objectivist campus clubs, supplying Rand's writings to schools and professors, assisting overseas Objectivist institutions, organizing annual conferences and running the
Objectivist Academic Center The Ayn Rand Institute: The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism, commonly known as the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI), is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit think tank in Santa Ana, California, that promotes Objectivism, the philosophy developed by Ayn Rand ...
. The institute's stated goal is to "spearhead a cultural renaissance that will reverse the anti-reason, anti-individualism, anti-freedom, anti-capitalist trends in today's culture".


History

During her lifetime, Rand helped establish The Foundation for the New Intellectual to promote Objectivist ideas. The Foundation was dissolved some fifteen years after her death, having been made redundant by ARI. Although Rand objected to Objectivism becoming an organized movement, she supported like-minded individuals working toward a common goal. Peikoff, her legal heir, was convinced to start the organization after businessman Ed Snider organized a meeting of possible financial supporters in New York in the fall of 1983. Peikoff also agreed to be the first chairman of the organization's board of directors. In 1983, a group of Objectivists, including
George Reisman George Gerald Reisman (; born January 13, 1937)"George Gerald Reisman" (2002), ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, Retrieved on January 18, 2007. is an American economist. He is Professor Emeritus of Economics at Pepperdine University and the ...
, organized the Jefferson School of Philosophy, Economics and Politics. The Jefferson School held a two-week-long conference at the
University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...
later that year, a conference which continued to occur every two years and is the predecessor of ARI's current annual Objectivist Conference. ARI began operations on February 1, 1985, three years after Rand's death, in
Marina del Rey, California Marina del Rey ( Spanish for "Marina of the King") is an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, with an eponymous harbor that is a major boating and water recreation destination of the greater Los Angeles area. The ...
. The first board of directors included Snider and psychologist Edith Packer. Snider was also one of the founding donors for the organization along with educational entrepreneur Carl Barney. Its first executive director was Michael Berliner, who was previously the chairman of the Department of Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education at
California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest u ...
. ARI also established a board of governors, which initially included Harry Binswanger,
Robert Hessen Robert Hessen (born 1936) is an American economic and business historian. He is a professor at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and a senior research fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. He is an Objectivist and has ...
,
Edwin Locke Edwin A. Locke (born May 15, 1938) is an American psychologist and a pioneer in goal-setting theory. He is a retired Dean's Professor of Motivation and Leadership at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College ...
, Arthur Mode, George Reisman, Jay Snider, and Mary Ann Sures, with Peter Schwartz as its chairman. M. Northrup Buechner and George Walsh joined the board of advisors shortly thereafter. ARI's first two projects were aimed at students. One was developing a network of college clubs to study Objectivism. The other was a college scholarship contest for high-school students based on writing an essay about Rand's novel '' The Fountainhead''. Later, additional essay contests were added based on ''
Anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short s ...
'', ''
We the Living ''We the Living'' is the debut novel of the Russian American novelist Ayn Rand. It is a story of life in post-revolutionary Russia and was Rand's first statement against communism. Rand observes in the foreword that ''We the Living'' was the cl ...
'' and ''
Atlas Shrugged ''Atlas Shrugged'' is a 1957 novel by Ayn Rand. It was her longest novel, the fourth and final one published during her lifetime, and the one she considered her ''magnum opus'' in the realm of fiction writing. ''Atlas Shrugged'' includes elemen ...
''. In 1988, ARI began publishing ''Impact'', a newsletter for contributors. In 1989, a philosophical dispute resulted in ARI ending its association with philosopher
David Kelley David Christopher Kelley (born June 23, 1949) is an American philosopher. He is a professed Objectivist, though his position that Objectivism can be revised and influenced by other schools of thought has prompted disagreements with other Obj ...
. Some members of the board of advisors agreed with Kelley and also left, including George Walsh. Kelley subsequently founded his own competing institute now known as
The Atlas Society The Atlas Society (TAS) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes the philosophy of Ayn Rand. It is part of the Objectivist movement that split off from the Ayn Rand Institute in 1990 due to disagreements over whether Objectiv ...
, which remains critical of ARI's stance on strict loyalty to Rand's principles. In 1994, ARI launched the Objectivist Graduate Center, which offered both distance-learning and in-person courses. In January 2000, Berliner retired as executive director, replaced by
Yaron Brook Yaron Brook ( he, ירון ברוק; born May 23, 1961) is an Israeli-American entrepreneur, writer, and activist. He is an Objectivist and the current chairman of the board at the Ayn Rand Institute, where he was executive director from 2000 to ...
, then an assistant professor of finance at Santa Clara University.
Onkar Ghate Onkar K. Ghate (born 1965 or 1966) is a Canadian philosopher. He is an Objectivist and a senior fellow and chief philosophy officer at the Ayn Rand Institute. Education and career Ghate studied economics and philosophy at the University of ...
began working for ARI later that year and ARI launched the Objectivist Academic Center. In 2002, ARI moved from Marina del Rey to larger offices in Irvine, California. In 2003, ARI launched the Anthem Fellowship for the Study of Objectivism, a fellowship that financially supports universities who have Objectivist professors.
Charity Navigator Charity Navigator is a charity assessment organization that evaluates hundreds of thousands of charitable organizations based in the United States, operating as a free 501(c)(3) organization. It provides insights into a nonprofit’s financial s ...
, which rates charitable and educational organizations to inform potential donors, gives ARI two out of four stars in 2020. , ARI's board of directors consists of Brook; Tsfany; Harry Binswanger, philosopher and long-time associate of Rand; Tara Smith, professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin; and John Allison, board member and former CEO of the
Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Indus ...
and former CEO of
BB&T BB&T Corporation (previously known as the Branch Banking and Trust Company) was one of the largest banking and financial services firms in the United States, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 2019, BB&T announced its intentions to merge ...
.; Larry Salzman of the Pacific Legal Foundation; Tim Blum, a Chicago real-estate developer; Robert Mayhew, professor of philosophy at Seton Hall University; Jim Brown, CFA; Onkar Ghate, Chief Philosophy Officer of the institute. Peikoff retains a cooperative and influential relationship with ARI. In 2006, he remarked that he approved of the work ARI has done and in November 2010 that the executive director "has done a splendid job". Peikoff was a featured speaker at the 2007 and 2010 Objectivist Conferences. In August 2010, he demanded a change to ARI's board of directors, resulting in the resignation of John McCaskey. A central goal for ARI throughout the 2010s has been to spread Objectivism globally. ARI helped establish the Ayn Rand Center Israel in 2012, the Ayn Rand Institute Europe in 2015 and the Ayn Rand Center Japan in 2017. Each of these organizations are separate legal entities from the United States-based ARI, but they are all affiliated with ARI. In January 2017, ARI announced Jim Brown as its CEO, succeeding
Yaron Brook Yaron Brook ( he, ירון ברוק; born May 23, 1961) is an Israeli-American entrepreneur, writer, and activist. He is an Objectivist and the current chairman of the board at the Ayn Rand Institute, where he was executive director from 2000 to ...
as its operational executive. In June 2018, Tal Tsfany, co-founder of the Ayn Rand Center Israel, took over as the president and CEO of ARI. In 2020, ARI received a Paycheck Protection Program loan of between $350K and $1 million,Coster, Helen. (July 7, 2020)
In sign of the times, Ayn Rand Institute approved for PPP loan
''Reuters''. .
which Binswanger and Ghate described as "partial restitution for government-inflicted losses".


Programs

ARI runs a variety of programs, many of which are aimed at students. It sends free books to schools, sponsors student essay contests and campus clubs and offers financial assistance to students applying to graduate school. It also has an online bookstore, offers internships for current and recently graduated college students and provides speakers for public lectures and media appearances.


Conferences

ARI organizes a week-long Objectivist Conference (OCON) each summer in a different city throughout the United States. OCON primarily consists of lectures, social events, and professional mentoring. Speakers have included ARI-affiliated Objectivists as well as like-minded speakers such as Flemming Rose and
Dave Rubin David Joshua Rubin (born in June 1976) is an American conservative political commentator and YouTuber. He is the creator and host of '' The Rubin Report'', a political talk show on YouTube and on the network BlazeTV. Launched in 2013, his sho ...
. ARI also hosts a three-day Ayn Rand Student Conference (AynRandCon) each fall, which is aimed at college and graduate school students.


Objectivist Academic Center

The Objectivist Academic Center (OAC) is an educational program that conducts online classes on Objectivism and related fields. Entry to the program requires admission after application, which requires college transcripts and admission essays. OAC does not offer college credits and is rather intended as a supplement to a college education.


International efforts

In recent years, ARI has made a concerted effort to promote Objectivism globally. Institutions affiliated with ARI in countries outside the United States are separate legal entities. In October 2012, ARI helped establish the Ayn Rand Center Israel (ARCI) to promote Objectivism in Israel and the Middle East. Its current director is Boaz Arad. In 2016, ARCI launched the Atlas Award for the Best Israeli Start-up, presented annually at the
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE; ; colloquially known as The Bursa, ) is Israel's only public stock exchange and a public company that has been traded on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange since August 1, 2019. Legally, the exchange is regulated by ...
. Judges for the award include Yaron Brook and
Shlomo Kalish Shlomo Kalish is an Israeli businessman. He is the Founder and Managing Partner at Jerusalem Global Ventures and also a Managing Partner of Corundum Open Innovation Ltd. Biography Shlomo Kalish was born in 1952 in Haifa, Israel to Issacher Dov a ...
.
Moovit Moovit ( he, מוביט) is an Israel-based mobility as a service provider and journey planner app. It has been owned by Intel through the Mobileye subsidiary since 2020. The company uses both crowdsourced and official public transit data to prov ...
was the first recipient of the award in 2016 and Zebra Medical Vision won the award in 2017. In April 2015, ARI helped establish the Ayn Rand Institute Europe to promote Objectivism in Europe. The current chairman of ARI Europe is Lars Seir Christensen, CEO and co-founder of
Saxo Bank Saxo Bank is a Danish investment bank specializing in online trading and investment. It was founded as a brokerage firm in 1992, under the name Midas Fondsmæglerselskab (English: ''Midas Stockbroker Company''), by Lars Seier Christensen, Kim ...
. In February 2017, ARI helped establish the Ayn Rand Center Japan. ARI has also helped establish Objectivist clubs at schools throughout the world, including in Mexico,
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, the United Kingdom,
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...
, India and China. ARI has also helped guide the independent Spain-based Objetivismo Internacional, which seeks to spread Objectivism in the
Spanish-speaking world Hispanophone and Hispanic refers to anything relating to the Spanish language (the Hispanosphere). In a cultural, rather than merely linguistic sense, the notion of "Hispanophone" goes further than the above definition. The Hispanic culture is th ...
.


Ideas promoted

ARI promotes Objectivism, the philosophy developed by Ayn Rand. ARI sponsors writers and speakers who apply Objectivism to contemporary issues, including philosophy, politics and art. Since Objectivism advocates
atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that ther ...
, ARI promotes the separation of church and state and its writers argue that the religious right poses a threat to individual rights. They have argued against displaying religious symbols such as the
Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...
in government facilities and against
faith-based initiatives The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, formerly the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) is an office within the White House Office that is part of the Executive Office of the President ...
. ARI intellectuals argue that religion is incompatible with American ideals and opposes the teaching of "
intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins". Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for its bold attempt to ...
" in public schools. ARI is strongly supportive of free speech and opposes all forms of censorship, including laws that ban
obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be us ...
and hate speech. In response to the
Muhammad cartoons controversy The ''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoons controversy (or Muhammad cartoons crisis, da, Muhammedkrisen) began after the Danish newspaper ''Jyllands-Posten'' published 12 editorial cartoons on 30 September 2005, most of which depicted Muhamma ...
, ARI started a Free Speech Campaign in 2006. Steve Simpson, formerly director of legal studies at ARI, has argued that
campaign finance Campaign finance, also known as election finance or political donations, refers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Political parties, charitable organizations, and political act ...
is a free speech issue and that laws that limit it are a violation of the
First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
. Accordingly, Simpson and ARI strongly supports '' Citizens United''. ARI holds that the motivation for Islamic terrorism comes from their religiosity, not poverty or a reaction to Western policies. They have urged that the United States use overwhelming, retaliatory force to "end states who sponsor terrorism", using whatever means are necessary to end the threat. In his article "End States Who Sponsor Terrorism", which was published as a full page ad in '' The New York Times'', Peikoff wrote: "The choice today is mass death in the United States or mass death in the terrorist nations. Our Commander-In-Chief must decide whether it is his duty to save Americans or the governments who conspire to kill them". Although some at ARI initially supported the invasion of Iraq, it has criticized how the Iraq War was handled. Since October 2, 2001, ARI has held that Iran should be the primary target in the war against "Islamic totalitarianism". ARI is generally supportive of Israel. Of
Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
,
Yaron Brook Yaron Brook ( he, ירון ברוק; born May 23, 1961) is an Israeli-American entrepreneur, writer, and activist. He is an Objectivist and the current chairman of the board at the Ayn Rand Institute, where he was executive director from 2000 to ...
writes: "Zionism fused a valid concern – self-preservation amid a storm of hostility – with a toxic premise – ethnically based collectivism and religion". ARI is highly critical of environmentalism and
animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sam ...
, arguing that they are destructive to human well-being. ARI is also highly critical of
diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce * Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers ...
and affirmative action programs as well as multiculturalism, arguing that they are based on
racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race over another. It may also mean prejudice, d ...
premises that ignore the commonality of a shared humanity. ARI supports women's right to choose abortion, voluntary euthanasia and
assisted suicide Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the p ...
. ARI denounces neoconservatism in general. For example, C. Bradley Thompson wrote an article entitled "The Decline and Fall of American Conservatism", which was later turned with Yaron Brook into a book called ''Neoconservatism: An Obituary for an Idea''.


Assets

As of FYE September 2018, ARI had assets of $8,061,000.


Funding details

Funding details as of FYE September 2018. The Ayn Rand Institute was approved for "$350,000 to $1 million" under the Paycheck Protection Program in 2020. This data was released by the Trump Administration in response to largely Democratic demands for more transparency surrounding the
CARES Act The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, is a $2.2trillion Stimulus (economics), economic stimulus bill passed by the 116th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27, 2 ...
. The decision was criticized due to the incongruity of some organizations previously opposed to federal spending receiving the funds during the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic impact on small businesses.


The Atlas Award

The Ayn Rand Institute Atlas Award is encouraging entrepreneurship. It is awarded to honour the most entrepreneurial entrepreneur who through wealth building and life enhancing enterprise ambition use their technological developments to make the "world a better place" which reflects the essence of Ayn Rand's philosophy connecting these values "to one of the best parts of the
Israeli economy The economy of Israel is a developed free-market economy. The prosperity of Israel's advanced economy allows the country to have a sophisticated welfare state, a powerful modern military said to possess a nuclear-weapons capability, modern inf ...
". Recipients include: * 2016
Moovit Moovit ( he, מוביט) is an Israel-based mobility as a service provider and journey planner app. It has been owned by Intel through the Mobileye subsidiary since 2020. The company uses both crowdsourced and official public transit data to prov ...


See also

*
Charles Koch Institute The Charles Koch Institute is a libertarian-oriented public policy research, programming, grant-making, and fellowship-funding organization based in Virginia. Named after Charles Koch, its founder and primary financier, it pursues conservative ...


References


External links

* {{Authority control Ayn Rand Atheist organizations Abortion-rights organizations in the United States Church–state separation advocacy organizations Non-profit organizations based in California Objectivist organizations Organizations based in Irvine, California Think tanks established in 1985 Political and economic think tanks in the United States Separation of church and state in the United States 1985 establishments in California